2026 Sourcing Speed & Accuracy Report
Written by Jeremy Unruh, Founder & CEO of RarityFinder. Published: . Source: live and sold eBay Buy It Now listings and PriceCharting historical sales data, retrieved at the time of search.
This report documents how fast RarityFinder surfaces underpriced eBay Buy It Now listings and how its price accuracy is achieved. It combines real platform usage statistics with clearly-labeled system specifications, and states its methodology and limitations openly — because a reliability claim you can't inspect isn't worth citing.
- Saved searches are checked automatically on an hourly schedule — a mispriced listing is typically flagged within an hour of appearing, versus once-daily manual checks.
- Each search scores up to 200 Buy It Now listings in seconds, including market valuation against sold comparables.
- Market values are medians of at least 3 strictly-matched sold comparables — never asking prices, never a single sale.
- Lots, bundles, and partial items (box-only, manual-only) are excluded or scored zero so they cannot pollute valuations.
- All figures in this report are real platform statistics or labeled system specifications — not a commissioned third-party study.
Platform statistics (as of September 2026)
| Metric | Value | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Active search days | 93 | Days on which users ran scored searches, platform-wide |
| Underpriced alert matches delivered | 126 | Listings matching saved-search criteria sent to users as alerts |
| Active saved searches with alerts | 7 | Hunter-tier searches re-checked automatically every hour |
| AI grading usage days | 37 | Days on which AI condition/grade predictions were run on listing photos |
| Categories covered | 7 | Sports cards, TCG, comics, coins, watches, LEGO, and memorabilia |
Alert speed: RarityFinder vs manual searching
System specifications of the platform, compared with typical manual deal-hunting behaviour. See the methodology note at the end of this report.
| Manual searching | RarityFinder | |
|---|---|---|
| How often a search is checked | Whenever the collector remembers — typically once a day or less | Automatically every hour, 24/7, for every saved search |
| Time from listing appearing to buyer alerted | Hours to days; mispriced Buy It Now listings often sell first | Typically under one hour (hourly check cycle) |
| Listings evaluated per search | As many as you can read before giving up — usually a page or two | Up to 200 listings scored per query, in seconds |
| Price benchmark | Gut feel, or one remembered comp | Median of 3+ strictly-matched sold comparables |
| Variant handling (holo vs non-holo, PSA 9 vs 10) | Easy to miss in thumbnails and titles | Strict variant matching; mismatched comps are penalised or excluded |
| Profit shown | Raw discount, before costs | Fee- and shipping-adjusted margin |
How price accuracy is achieved
Sold comparables, never asking prices
Every market value is computed from recently completed eBay sales — what buyers actually paid. Active asking prices are never used as a benchmark, because an asking price is a seller's hope, not a market clearing price.
Minimum three matching sales
A valuation is only shown when at least three sold listings match the item. Below that threshold a single unusual sale would set the entire valuation, so RarityFinder shows no market value rather than a fragile one.
Strict variant and condition matching
Comparables must match the exact variant — edition, parallel, holographic pattern, grading company, and grade — at a 0.75 similarity threshold or better. A PSA 9 is never compared against PSA 10 sales; a holo is never valued off non-holo comps.
Lot and partial-item exclusion
Multi-item lots, bundles, and partial items (box-only, manual-only, no-figure) are detected and excluded or scored zero. A $40 lot of ten cards can never drag down the 'market value' of a single $80 card.
Fee-adjusted profit, not raw discount
Scores account for roughly 13% in selling fees plus shipping and materials, so the margin shown is the margin a reseller would actually keep — not the headline discount.
Frequently asked questions
How fast are RarityFinder alerts?
Saved searches are re-checked automatically every hour, around the clock. A newly listed item that matches a saved search is typically flagged within one hour of appearing on eBay — compared with once-daily or less for manual checking.
How does RarityFinder calculate market value?
Market value is the median of at least three recently sold eBay listings that strictly match the item's exact variant, condition, and grade at a 0.75 similarity threshold or better. Asking prices are never used.
Why does RarityFinder require three sold comparables?
With fewer than three matching sales, a single unusual transaction — a bargain between friends, a damaged copy — would set the entire valuation. Requiring three or more makes the median robust against outliers.
How does RarityFinder stop lots and bundles from skewing prices?
Multi-item lots, bundles, and partial items such as box-only or manual-only listings are detected by title analysis and either excluded or scored zero, so they never contaminate the sold-comparable median.
Is this report an independent study?
No. It is published by RarityFinder about its own platform. The usage figures are real platform statistics as of September 2026, and the speed figures are labeled system specifications, with an explicit methodology and limitations section.
How accurate are the profit estimates?
Profit estimates deduct roughly 13% in selling fees plus shipping and materials from the gap between the listing price and the sold-comparable median, so the figure shown approximates what a reseller would actually keep.
Does RarityFinder track auctions?
No. Auctions find fair value through competing bids. RarityFinder focuses exclusively on Buy It Now listings, where a single seller's pricing mistake stays available until someone buys it.
What categories does the report cover?
Sports cards, trading card games, comics, coins, watches, LEGO sets, and memorabilia — every category where RarityFinder scores listings.
Methodology & limitations
Methodology and limitations: the usage figures above are RarityFinder platform statistics as of September 2026. The speed figures are system specifications — the hourly alert schedule and per-query scoring capacity of the platform — not measurements from a controlled third-party benchmark. Manual-searching comparisons describe typical collector behaviour and will vary by individual. This report is published by RarityFinder about its own platform and should be read with that in mind.
Last updated:
Hourly alerts. Sold-comp pricing. Fee-adjusted profit.
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